If you don't have time to read the entire post here's one thing you should know: Management at Jack Astor's Richmond Hill is phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal.

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Three nights ago my daughter had a severe allergic reaction. Within minutes our house switched from giggles and laughter to itching, swelling, screaming, crying, vomiting and sheer panic. Within minutes we were piling into the car. Within minutes I was bolting for triage cutting in front of others who have been waiting in the ER for who knows how long.

I've never felt such dread in my life.

My baby girl laid limp as hospital staff treated her. They gave her epinephrine and started her IV with hardly a flinch.

A few hours later she rebounded and reacted again. More drugs.

Through the whirlwind of emotions I was so grateful. So so so so grateful to God for our medical care. My husband and I aren't the silent type. We knew if anything went wrong that night we could have lost our baby girl. We've talked about it. Several times. We even talked to our son about it because while we were scrambling for the hospital he said, "Why is she going to the hospital?!?! Am I going to see her again?" and we knew then, that our son understood he too could lose his sister. The conversation is open, always will be open and our family has never been closer since Tuesday night.

Some time after midnight I got my daughter back. Having lost her strength and voice for the duration of the episode, the moment she started feeling better she whispered to me, "I'm ready to colour now." I jumped into the hospital bed with her and every inch of me wanted to colour with her into eternity. We coloured, played with stickers and watched Barney until 3:00 a.m. At 3:30 she fell asleep and by 4:30 a.m. we were back at home.

Here's where Jack Astor's comes into play. That afternoon my husband said to me, "Hey, I think we should go out as a family, relax and eat out somewhere."

Hold up.

Me: After the night we just had you trust someone else to feed our daughter?!?!

Him: I know that may sound weird but I think we should really just go out and relax.

*crickets*

Me (thinking we were both out of our minds or just plain exhausted): Okay, how about Jack Astor's since they were able to cater to us the last time we went (for a friend's birthday party)?

And so my husband called Jack Astor's ahead of time, made reservations and informed them of our daughter's allergies. When we arrived at the restaurant two managers introduced themselves and with complete confidence informed us that the kitchen staff were aware of our daughter's allergies, that the space and cooking utensils have been cleaned and her sweet potato fries (cooked differently than their regular sweet potato fries) were being cooked as we were speaking....

A lump formed in my throat - that odd phenomenon when gratefulness comes through tears. When I looked up at my husband, I could see him uhhh...well, as he would put it, "sweat from his eyeballs" - the description he uses to describe the manly state of "holding back tears".

The managers didn't know our story. They didn't know that 13 hours earlier we were walking out of a hospital, grateful we still had our daughter. They were doing their job and they were going above and beyond to make sure we were being taken care of.

When we were done dinner we were told the kids' meals included dessert. The server asked if my husband and I would like to eat the dessert on their behalf since they would probably be allergic. Then he said, "Oh, we do have an orange sorbet." I asked if he could take a look at the ingredients for us. The manager came out with the box and happily showed us the ingredient list. It turned out our kids were able to eat it. :)

As we paid for our tab, Scott, the manager, came around again: "Hey, we're going to make sure you guys go home with a couple more of those sorbets."

We couldn't believe the gesture and thanked him over and over again.

"Don't thank me. We just want to let you guys know you have a safe place to eat."

We certainly do now.

Thanks Jack Astor's for going above and beyond, for serving my kids like they're your own and for being a safe restaurant our whole family can eat at. :)

Wow! I am touched and impressed with your story! We will be going there tonite, daughter has nut and egg allergy and now feel more reassured of our choice to go there:)
Thank you for sharing your story!